Essay on Confucianism vs Taoism

The Teachings of Confucius versus the Tao Te Ching
The teachings of Confucius and the Tao Te Ching are two important schools of thought in China. In Confucius’s Analects, he talks mostly of political and social issues and also speaks about how people must govern by following rules and displaying virtuous qualities such as honesty and integrity. Lao Zi on the other hand talks of how the world has a propensity towards balancing itself and that people should govern by “going with the flow” while the cosmos sort out the events of life. He also mentions that people should have a detachment from many things in life such as material objects. Ultimately, the main difference between the Tao Te Ching and the teachings of Confucius is that the Tao …show more content…
This idea is even more exemplified when Confucius tells Lao Zi that he thinks he has failed in his mission to knock down the city walls. Laozi tells him to “stop trying when you have achieved nothing” and “maybe the best contribution is no contribution” and further reveals his Daoist principles (Clip 3). All in all, the film Confucius, Lao Zi is portrayed as a man who believes in otherworldly solutions to problems while Confucius believes in strict, absolute ones.
A depiction of Confucius’s ideas of governing is also apparent in the beginning of the film. When talking to the emperor of Lu, Confucius mentions that people should respect the law because they’re civil and honest and have integrity to make their homeland a better place. This approach involves making an effort to have those specific character traits and differs from the teachings of the Tao Te Ching because it involves what Lao Zi called “chasing the light” (Tao Te Ching, 3). He says that too much light blinds, which in this case is the seeking of morality, and that it is better to want less instead of more. The confliction of Confucian and Daoist ideas illustrates the profound differences they have in regards to how people should act and be governed.
Confucianism involves adhering to a strict moral code whereas Daoism involves going with the natural order of things and by acting through inaction. Though the ideologies of Confucius and Lao Zi differ a great

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